Archived Content

Delaware and Colombia – A Growing Partnership

A U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA) has the potential to increase both trade and investment between the United States and Colombia, improving on an already strong relationship. In particular, Delaware stands to gain from increased business ties, as the TPA will create jobs at home through increased export market access for both goods and services, reduced prices for manufacturers, and an improved investment environment.

Delaware’s Chemical Manufacturers Will Benefit from CTPA

Delaware is the home to some of the world’s largest chemical companies, such as DuPont, and AstraZeneca. Yet these companies currently face tariffs averaging 8% - and ranging up to 20% - on their exports to Colombia.

CTPA will make Delaware’s chemical giants more competitive in the Colombian market by eliminating 82% of chemical tariffs immediately and phasing out the rest over 10 years. These changes are expected to raise U.S. chemical exports to Colombia by 22%.

Estimated Increases in U.S. Exports in Sectors Important to Vermont

  • Misc. Manufactures 60.1%
  • Processed Foods 36.2
  • Paper Products 27.9
  • Chemicals 22.6
  • Petroleum & Coal Products 14.5
  • Computers & Electronics 8.0

EXPORTS

In 2006, Colombia was Delaware’s 27th largest export market for goods, with exports totaling $15.0 million.

Colombia will eliminate tariffs immediately on Delaware’s leading exports, including:

  • Certain chemicals and pharmaceuticals
  • Plastics & resins
  • Certain paper products

Colombia also will eliminate tariffs immediately on many farm products, such as:

  • Certain poultry products
  • Soybean meal and soybean flour
  • Corn

The TPA will allow Delaware’s financial services companies to establish subsidiaries or branches within Colombia, enabling them to make credit more readily available to Colombian consumers.

Colombian Products Already Receive Broad Access to U.S. Market

In 2006, the average U.S. tariff on imports from Colombia was 0.2 percent, compared to average tariffs of 10 - 20 percent on U.S. exports to Colombia.

The U.S.-Colombia TPA will make permanent the duty-free benefits granted to Colombia under the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act and the Generalized System of Preferences programs and ensure that Delaware exports receive permanent and reciprocal access to the growing Colombian market.

Delaware’s Exports to Colombia Will Benefit from Duty Savings and Increased Access to Colombia’s Market

SOURCES & NOTES

(1) U.S. Department of Commerce.
(2) U.S. International Trade Commission, U.S. Department of Commerce, and U.S. Department of Agriculture. For some categories, Colombia’s duties range as high as 20 percent.
(3) U.S. International Trade Commission. The majority of Colombia’s exports have received duty-free treatment under the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) since 2002. In addition, Colombia also has received duty-free benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program since 1976.
(4) U.S. Department of Commerce.
(5) U.S. International Trade Commission. The International Trade Commission did not publish separate estimates for chemical, plastic, and rubber products.
(6) Column 1 multiplied by Column 2.
(a) Forty-four percent of Delaware’s paper exports will receive immediate duty-free treatment under the U.SColombia TPA. Duties on the remaining products will be eliminated in stages over 10 years.
(b) For chemical products, Colombia will eliminate duties affecting 82 percent of Delaware’s exports immediately upon implementation of the Agreement.
(c) Approximately 68 percent of the State’s electronic products will receive immediate duty-free treatment. For information technology product exports 100 percent will receive immediate duty-free treatment.
(d) Approximately 70 percent of Delaware’s industrial equipment exports will receive immediate duty-free treatment. The remaining 30 percent of products will be duty-free within ten years.

For further information, contact Brigitte Schmidt Gwyn, Director, International Trade & Fiscal Policy 202.496.3263, bgwyn@businessroundtable.org

We use cookies to give you the best experience when using our website. You can click “Accept” if you agree to allow us to place cookies. For more information, please see our Cookie Notice.